Aerial Locating Method Design for Civil Aviation RFI: UAV Monitoring Platform and Ground Terminal System

Abstract

A key open question in the aerial locating method is ensure that parameters that identify the location of the radio frequency interference (RFI) are monitored, and to make sure that the locating algorithm is unbiased. Furthermore, the transmission of parameters to the ground for real-time analysis and display of the RFI location is important as it provides insight into the performance advantages of the aerial location method. The main contributions of the article are four points: the first is the introduction of the angle of arrival (AOA) algorithm to civil aviation RFI location, and the integration of algorithm characteristics with unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operations proposing an aerial monitoring method for civil aviation RFI. Simulation results show that the two-point cross-location method obtains effective information on the location parameters of the RFI. The second is to build a UAV monitoring platform, which is as light as possible to make sure the direction finding and digital transmission devices meet the airworthiness requirements, so that the UAV can complete the data acquisition task within a safety margin. Thirdly, a ground analysis system was designed to receive information on the UAV’s parameters, enabling software manipulation to ensure safe operation under non-visual conditions. In addition to this, the monitoring data is processed in real time and algorithms are used to resolve the location of interference sources and display them on a map. The fourth one is to verify the implementation of the aerial positioning method by setting up different test scenarios. Compared with portable direction-finding equipment and ground monitoring, the test results show that the UAV-based RFI monitoring method performances better in monitoring radius and positioning accuracy with a small direction-finding error, and the advantages of the ground analysis system are highly integrated and intuitive display.

Research on a Method of Locating Civil Aviation Radio Interference Sources Based on Time Difference of Arrival and Frequency Difference of Arrival for Four Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

“…Kelner J M et al [ 30 ] evaluated the effectiveness of signal Doppler frequency methods in locating mobile radiation sources using swarms of UAVs. The team led by Zhou Chao at the Civil Aviation Flight University of China (CAFUC) has undertaken extensive research in this field, constructing various UAV monitoring platforms dedicated to monitoring civil aviation radio interference sources [ 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 ].…”